All language subtitles for Sea.Monsters.Series.2.Part.2.Iceberg.Air.Force.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

Narrator:
Across the north atlantic,

More than 1,000 icebergs
are on the loose,

Threatening shipping lanes
and offshore exploration...

They hold the potential
to actually bust open pipelines,

To tear up mooring cables.

At this point,
we are almost double

The entire season total
of last year.

There's a financial risk,
but more importantly,

There's a life risk.

Narrator:
To combat this frozen foe,

A fleet of ice-fighting machines
is turning up the heat

On the world's largest
frozen battlefield.

Meet the north atlantic's
iceberg air force.

Armed with drones and
high-flying tracking equipment,

This powerhouse team prepares
to target and destroy icebergs

That are formed
on the same deadly waterway

That took down the titanic.

[ thud, air horn blows ]

Hogan: When you see something
that big from the airplane,

It's scary to imagine what would
happen if you actually hit it.

Briggs: I'm pretty certain
there's no one else out there

Flying drones
in the north atlantic

In those kind of
wind conditions.

This is really the future
of iceberg reconnaissance.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

On the eastern edge
of north america,

An icy battle is under way

And one of america's coolest
military machines

Is preparing to take flight.

The c-130 hercules
was born in the 1950s

To do the heavy lifting
in the hardest-to-get-to places.

♪

Now it's fighting a cold war
of a different kind.

Its mission -- to monitor
40,000 icebergs a year...

♪

...Carved off the glaciers
of greenland

That are on a deadly trajectory
toward newfoundland,

Home to
the busiest shipping lanes

And offshore oil fields
in the world.

It's an annual ice migration

That threatens ships
and offshore infrastructure,

Putting money
and lives on the line.

♪

We're the first place on earth
that had oil and gas development

In the presence of icebergs
and sea ice.

You can't let your guard down

When you're navigating
anywhere in these waters.

Narrator: There have been
at least 58 major ice collisions

Around the world
in recent decades,

From antarctic cruise ships
to northern fishing trawlers,

And constant close calls
on offshore platforms.

In 2017, we had an incident
where a massive iceberg

Came 50 meters of a platform,

Close enough that
they warned the crew

And asked them
to prepare for impact.

Narrator: The most infamous
disaster in these waters

Dates back more than a century,

When the titanic sank 400 miles
off the coast of newfoundland,

Killing 1,500 people.

That tragedy led to the creation
of a maritime defense force

Dedicated to pushing back

Against the unstoppable
ice army from the north

Using science,
engineering, technology,

And magnificent mega machines.

The c-130 hercules
is the highest-flying weapon

In the arsenal.

A long-range aircraft
operated by

The united states coast guard's
international ice patrol.

It's a go-anywhere,
do-anything machine...

♪

...That can take a beating
in the cold ocean air.

It can fly across
the north atlantic and back

On a single tank of fuel.

With a wingspan of 132 feet,

It can cruise the jet stream
at 374 miles per hour,

Carrying
nearly 42,000 pounds of gear.

On long-range missions,

The c-130 hercules
tracks icebergs

To find safe shipping routes
through the maze of ice.

Steve koch
is tactical commander

With
the united states coast guard.

Koch: So, what I have behind us

Is our primary
aerial reconnaissance.

The c-130 gives us
the opportunity

To have ice observers
in the back of the plane

And then has space
on the flight deck,

Where myself
and our radar ice observer

Works with the air crew

To identify and accurately
position icebergs.

♪

Narrator: The c-130's hunting
ground is a dangerous section

Of the north atlantic
known as iceberg alley,

A maritime corridor

Stretching from greenland
to newfoundland,

Iceberg alley
has two powerful ocean currents,

The baffin current
and the labrador current,

That funnel icebergs south

Into harm's way.

♪

So, why is the coast guard
in the cockpit

For a battle taking place
in the deep north atlantic?

♪

Because once the bergs
cross the 48th parallel,

They're an international threat.

That's where
iceberg alley intersects

The great circle route,

The shortest distance
for ship traffic

Between europe
and the eastern seaboard,

A maritime highway

That transports 5 million
cargo containers a year.

The reason we're involved
and why it's important to us is,

Yes, we have the shipping
traffic that comes from europe

Transecting
the great circle route

To our ports in america.

We're also mandated by

The international convention
of safety of life at sea

And the u.S. Code
to execute this mission.

Narrator:
The c-130 mission protects

World energy markets, as well,

Because newfoundland's
offshore platforms

Lie in those same
shipping lanes.

♪

They pose a tremendous hazard
to offshore operations,

Particularly
in the oil-and-gas sector.

Narrator: With thousands
of mariners' lives

And $100 billion of commerce
on the line,

It's up to the mighty hercules
to get the job done.

Kenny: These icebergs --

I mean, typically they're from
100,000 to 200,000 tons,

And to put that into context,

This is the equivalent of about
a 15-story apartment building.

Narrator: The c-130 crews use
specialized mapping equipment

To locate hazardous icebergs
in shipping lanes.

But tracking every iceberg

In an area larger than
the state of kansas

Is no easy feat.

We cover a huge amount
of area,

Basically from the tail
of the grand banks

All the way north
to the coast of labrador.

Narrator: Each day, crews
monitor a different quadrant.

Using the data they collect,

They produce a warning
for ships,

A boundary they simply call
the iceberg limit.

Rudnickas:
Once they pass st. John's,

Now they're within
the maritime shipping lanes,

And now they're a hazard
to maritime traffic.

Koch:
It outlines and identifies

The potential amount of icebergs
within this limit,

And that is a planning tool
for the maritime community

To not transect that area.

Narrator:
The goal is to keep ships

As far away from icebergs
as possible.

I've seen icebergs that,
in a snap, just break apart.

♪

I've seen icebergs where,
you know,

When they calve off pieces,

That they create
these little mini tsunamis

That could swamp vessels.

That's why you don't want to get
so close to an iceberg.

Koch: With almost double amount
of icebergs this season.

Our iceberg limit is expanded.

When the iceberg limit expanded,

It takes more patrols
to cover that area,

And that's what we're facing.

Narrator:
Steve koch and his mighty crew

Are ready to hit the skies.

U.S. Coast guard
petty officer ryan hogan

Is in charge of ice spotting.

His eyes
are the final line of defense

For tracking ice

That the monitoring equipment
might have missed.

Hogan: When you see
something that big

And when you're looking at them
from the airplane

And you're realizing
how big they are,

It's scary to imagine what would
happen if you actually hit it.

Narrator: But even hogan's
sharp eyes won't help today.

The crew is fogged in,

And with storm systems
approaching,

Freezing fog can form
a layer of ice on the plane.

♪

Experts say planes need 200 feet
between the ground and clouds

And the ability to see
about a half a mile ahead

To take off and land safely.

Until the skies clear up,

The safety
of these unpredictable waters

Will depend on

Some of the world's most
cutting-edge radar technology.

♪

♪

Narrator: Iceberg alley is one
of the foggiest, windiest,

And most treacherous waterways
on earth.

But thanks
to the international ice patrol,

Nearly 85,000 square miles
are monitored every day

For potentially hazardous
ice conditions.

And the ice patrol's
secret weapon --

The versatile workhorse
of the sky --

The c-130 hercules.

But iceberg alley
wasn't always so well-protected.

Before the introduction
of long-range aircraft,

The international ice patrol
was more navy than air force,

And their effort
to fight science failed.

Koch: Back in the day,

They tried to use explosives
to blow up the icebergs,

But unfortunately, all that did
was create more little icebergs.

♪

We've had cases
where we drill down,

Put dynamite in the berg,
and just go poof!

It's so massive.

There's so much energy
trapped in that huge iceberg

That the amount of energy
that you would need

To put into it to blow it apart
is tremendous.

Narrator:
When firepower failed,

It was decided the best offense
is a high-flying defense,

And an unlikely hero
came to the rescue.

By the end of the korean war,

The old world war ii
cargo planes

Weren't getting the job done,

With gear
getting bigger and heavier.

Yet, their unique design
made them an asset.

Engineers took
the biggest piece of gear

The military had at the time,

The m551 sheridan tank,

And drew a circle
around it.

That was the diameter
of the plane,

The length of the body
from the cockpit back,

The size of a railway car.

Then, they just
had to make it fly.

Somewhere between

The old reliable piston
in prop airplanes

And the new turbo jets,

The c-130 was powered
by turbo prop engines,

More fuel-efficient
than the jets

And more heavy-duty
than the old piston engines.

♪

Sweet handling has
earned it a reputation

As a pilot's airplane.

With four
nearly 4,000-horsepower engines,

It can take off and land
in 787 feet of runway.

The c-130 has been working
at the front lines

Longer than any other plane...

And they just keep adding
more tech.

As time went on
and technology improved,

We started using

Highly sophisticated aircraft
with radar.

Narrator:
Radar is a detection system

Where electromagnetic waves
are emitted by a transmitter.

When the waves hit an object,
they bounce back.

A receiver and processor
then analyze

The objects' dimensions, speed,
and location.

On the c-130, radar tools with

High-resolution, night-and-day,
weather-independent capability

Can find and track
almost every iceberg,

Even in the heaviest seas.

[ bird caws ]

Bring in radar, and it expands

The area that we can search
and identify targets.

And if we get something
on radar

That we can see
beyond our visibility,

We can come off track

And go look to see
what those targets are.

Narrator:
Once they've been identified,

Then the task is
to track the icebergs

As they enter shipping lanes
via the labrador current

And keep
a continuous computer plot

Of the known or estimated
whereabouts of every berg.

♪

The future will be flying
even higher.

New satellite radar systems
will be orbiting the earth,

Tracking every iceberg
in the sea.

Power: So, if you look
at what we've done,

The technologies that
we've developed,

That has led to about
$3 billion in savings.

That amount of savings means
that there are fields out there

That without our knowledge,
our influence,

Would not be developed today.

Narrator:
Newfoundland native kelly dodge

Leads a team of analysts,

Who is currently using
the latest technology available

To track icebergs.

So, here we can see
several different satellites.

So, we have got
the sentinel satellite,

Which is a european satellite.

We've also got
cosmo-skymed in tx/rx,

And these are all
european satellites.

Narrator: Along with a fleet
of canadian satellites,

These eyes in the sky pass
over newfoundland twice a day.

Some images they capture
are called "optical" --

They're clear and easy to read,
like high-res photographs,

But they're only helpful
when captured in daytime

When skies are clear.

The real weapon
is 24-hour, cloud-piercing radar

Known as "sar."

Synthetic aperture radar
is a sar satellite,

So it's a radar-based satellite,
so it emits an energy signal,

And then that bounces off

Of the objects
that are in the ocean

And the ocean itself.

And in order to detect a target,

It has to be brighter
than the ocean.

So we can see icebergs and ships

Because that signal returns
stronger than the background.

Narrator: Sar holds a wealth
of life-saving information --

It can locate, track movement
and the speed of icebergs

That are on the move

From one part of iceberg alley
to another...

♪

...All crucial info
that is passed on

To teams working
in iceberg alley.

♪

But even
with all this technology,

Icebergs can still
evade detection,

Slippery enemies that can hide
in the swell and waves

Or be mistaken for ships at sea.

You will have icebergs
and bergy bits in the water,

And sometimes,
even with modern radar,

You will not be able to detect
those pieces of ice.

Narrator: Off newfoundland,

Experts estimate
5% of bergs still go undetected.

Until the satellite technology
is perfected,

The last hope for iceberg alley
is a human eye in the sky.

It's a call to action for
the international ice patrol.

So, we have this juxtaposition
of the natural beauty

Thousands of years in the making

And commercial traffic
and our way of life,

And our job is to kind of keep
those two things separate.

Narrator: But the c-130
and its team of ice experts

Have been grounded for days

Because storms have made it
unsafe to fly.

Now the skies are clearing,
and they're gearing up

To tackle iceberg alley

In their amped-up,
one-of-a-kind mega machine.

[ whirring softly ]

♪

♪

Narrator: It's the busiest year
on record in iceberg alley --

More than 1,200 icebergs
are heading south.

These
majestic cathedrals of the sea

Might look beautiful,

But don't let
their good looks fool you.

When you get really close
to a huge iceberg,

It's big and beautiful
and very, very dangerous.

Kenny: They hold the potential
to actually bust open pipelines,

To tear up mooring cables,

To destroy
hundreds of billions of dollars

Worth of infrastructure
on the seabed.

So that's a clear
and present danger.

Narrator: And it's a problem
that's not going to melt away.

This dangerous and deadly
ice cycle begins each summer,

And it's been happening
for thousands of years.

Ralph: Ice forms from snow

That gets accumulated on
the inner portions of greenland.

And over the course
of thousands of years, it flows.

And as the pressure builds up
on the inland caps,

It presses the ice
out at the edges.

The icebergs will go out
to the edge,

And eventually, they will be
too heavy to hang off the edge.

They will break
and then fall into the ocean.

Narrator: By the end of summer,
40,000 bergs

Will begin a collision course
down iceberg alley.

Woodworth-lynas:
Some of them could be large,

Very flat, tabular icebergs.

Some of them are round.
Some of them are chunky.

When the sea ice goes
or melts or moves away

And the icebergs are exposed
to ocean waves,

That's what starts
to cut them up.

And then they start to get

These rather interesting,
rounded, and strange shapes.

Dodge: They travel down
in that labrador current,

And when they hit newfoundland,

They can take
one of three directions.

They can travel
along the avalon channel,

Which will put them
along the coast

Of newfoundland and labrador.

They can travel along
the flemish pass,

Which will cause risks
to the oil-and-gas industry.

And they can also go into the
deep waters and go further west.

But no matter
which way they travel,

They all pose a risk to
the shipping lanes that we have.

Broderick: For mariners
who navigate these waters,

The iceberg is as dangerous
today as it was 100 years ago.

Narrator:
Meanwhile, at the airport

In newfoundland's capital,
st. John's,

The toughest weapon
in the ice-fighting arsenal

Is back in business.

After being grounded
by inclement weather,

The crew
just received clearance to fly.

So now it's time to get on board
the workhorse of iceberg alley.

The c-130 hercules

Is 98 feet long
with a 132-foot wingspan.

It can fly nearly 5,600 miles
on a single tank of fuel

And can go more than 20 hours
without landing.

The c-130 has surveyed

Northern sections
of iceberg alley this season,

But the team's fallen behind

In tracking bergs
to the east and the south.

Koch: So, for today's mission,

We are going to verify
the southern limit

And also the flemish pass.

We have, approximately,
at the beginning of the flight,

About a half a dozen icebergs
on plot.

So we're going to verify that
they are there or not there.

Narrator: They'll rely on
radar teams up front

And ice spotter ryan hogan
in the rear.

So, the crew of the ice patrol
is typically 12 to 14 personnel.

That involves the pilot
and copilot and loadmaster,

Two of our
mission system operators,

Part of the air crew,

Myself
as the tactical commander,

And our radar ice observer.

During the flight
as a tactical commander,

I'm tracking what's going on.

It's as simple as that --

Marking the turns, what on-scene
weather conditions are,

If we either descend or ascend

To try to get better visibility
to identify the icebergs.

Narrator: Now, as a field of
icebergs appears on the horizon,

The ice spotters
get into position.

As the crew gets close
to the patrol area,

They fire up
their computer tracking system.

Once the radar team
gets online,

Ryan hogan will confirm
the bergs' positions.

Hogan: So, we're scanning
the area for icebergs,

Or we're waiting for the radar
to let us know

If there's something
a little further out.

Then we'll try
to put eyes on it.

If we need to, we'll use the
binoculars to get their size.

And we'll put that
into the computer.

Narrator:
The data is ingested

Into an iceberg
analysis and prediction system.

It will be used to produce the
daily ice-danger forecasts...

♪

...A crucial resource
for mariners.

Every single day, we generate
a line in the water

Where we say, "this is where
the iceberg danger exists,"

And we send that out
to the maritime community.

Narrator: But even after
confirming the radar targets,

Hogan keeps searching...

Because sometimes bergs
look like ships on radar.

Thankfully, this time,
there are no surprises.

The search grid gets
an all-clear from the spotters,

But that was just
the first mission of the day.

The crew now heads to the
southern limits of iceberg alley

Where one such bergy bit

Caused one of the most
infamous disasters in history --

The sinking of the titanic.
[ air horn blows ]

As they travel south
from greenland,

Decaying icebergs
create additional hazards

Because of their trail
of smaller, broken-off bergs

Called "growlers"
and "bergy bits."

Although small in size,

They are the most dangerous
and hardest to spot.

And of
the 15,000 to 30,000 icebergs

Calved each year
by the greenland glaciers,

Only about 1% of them

Ever make it
all the way to the atlantic.

When the titanic sank
on April 15, 1912,

The berg was at roughly
the same longitude as boston,

Over 5,000 miles south
of the arctic circle.

Today,
the hope is that the ice patrol

Will be able to predict when
and where icebergs will calve

And how long it will take
for it to travel

From one region to another.

Rudnickas:
So, we just commemorated

The 107th anniversary
of titanic sinking

Just a couple weeks ago.

And we still --
to this day, every year,

The international ice patrol
from our c-130s

Deploy wreaths at sea

As close to the sinking location
as we can

To commemorate those lives lost.

For us, it was the beginning

Of the international ice patrol
story.

Icebergs have been around
for a very long time,

But it was that titanic
sinking event

That let the communities
of the northern hemisphere,

Basically, understand
that there is a hazard

From icebergs
for transatlantic shipping

And, hence, started
the international ice patrol.

Narrator:
The crew is nearly 560 miles

From titanic's resting place

During
an unpredictable ice season.

The stakes are getting higher
every year.

Melting arctic ice means
more bergs and more ships

Are traveling arctic waters.

Steve koch and ryan hogan

Are methodically
tackling iceberg alley

One quadrant at a time.

And while the
international ice patrol's c-130

Pushes south
through iceberg alley,

A second expedition
is under way

That's never been attempted
before.

♪

♪

Narrator: Across the
north atlantic shipping lanes,

Harsh weather and high seas
make for a deadly combination,

Even for a modern vessel.

Thanks
to the international ice patrol,

Ships traveling
across iceberg alley

Are able to reduce the threat
of collision.

Today, as the c-130 air crew
pushes south,

A research team
is meeting up with the crew

On the u.S. Coast guard
cutter juniper

To carry drone operators
into the thick of iceberg alley.

So, we're about to set sail
to start a project

For tagging icebergs
in the north atlantic.

The project has been set up

And started by
the international ice patrol,

And they contracted sea corp
to work with them.

Narrator: The plan is to use
drones to plant tracking devices

On dozens of icebergs.

♪

With the help of
advanced algorithms

And satellite technology,
they'll analyze the trajectories

And learn how to predict iceberg
movement like never before.

♪

Briggs:
So, these are the models

That we've developed
for this program.

It's carbon fiber
and fiberglass, so it floats.

So it increases the probability
of success of data collection

By allowing us
to land in the water.

It means we can recover it
from the water,

Dust it off, and get it ready
to go out another time.

Narrator: If they're successful

And learn to identify smaller
bergs in the swell and waves,

Hopes are high this project
could someday help support

The c-130 mission --

A new generation
of micro-sized machines

That could keep the ice patrol
out of harm's way.

Briggs: So, the beacon
will actually clip underneath.

See these servomechanisms here?

There's a two-stage release,
which we fly over the iceberg.

The first stage of the release

Will release a line
and about 5 meters of wire

So that the tracker
is hanging underneath.

Tag is hanging underneath
the drone, flopping around.

We see it on the camera.

And then the pilot is able
to lift the drone up and down.

We seat it in a location
that we like,

And then we pull a second pin,
and that releases the line,

And the tag is
left on the iceberg,

And the drone safely comes home.

Narrator: All briggs
and his team need to do now

Is find some bergs bigger

Than the one that shredded
the titanic.

And they've got
the mega machine sea giant

That will take them there.

The juniper is
a 230-foot seagoing buoy tender

Designed to work
in almost any environment,

With a hull nearly an inch thick
to handle icy waters

And a steering system

That can cut
some pretty tight corners.

♪

Greg batchelder
is the juniper's captain.

So, this is the bridge
of the ship,

Also known as the pilot house.

And this is where we operate
the cutter from.

So, we have
the main throttle here

That controls how fast we go.

We also have steering.

So, there's no more
steering wheels.

This is actually a lever
that controls our rudder,

And something that's unique
about the juniper

And this class of vessel

Is we have
dynamic-positioning system,

Which enables us
to hold position

Within a few feet of where
we want to maintain station.

And all of our navigation is
now done with electronic charts,

And we have multiple screens
throughout the bridge,

So we're always aware
of where we are.

And all the watch standers
up here are well aware

Of where we are navigating
at any given time.

Narrator: With the
tracking devices loaded

And sea corp's
drone pilots onboard,

The juniper is ready to go.

Captain,
checklist complete.

Request
to get juniper under way.

Roger.
Get juniper under way.

Alright.

Narrator: After traveling

Through harsh weather
and rough seas,

The crew has finally made it
to the testing location.

♪

Now, in calmer waters
surrounded by ice,

The team can finally

Put their drone delivery system
to the test.

♪

Briggs: The very first flight's
always challenging.

That's very stressful -- to make
sure everything's behaving well,

Nothing's got damaged
in the mobilization.

I'm pretty certain
there's no one else out there

Flying drones
in the north atlantic

From a pitching
and heaving vessel

Onto an iceberg
to deploy the tracker

In those kind of
wind conditions.

Narrator: The crew wants
to track enough icebergs

To learn how to distinguish them
from ships

And keep them from evading
detection on iceberg alley.

Briggs:
So, as we approach the iceberg,

We're able to use the two
cameras that are mounted here.

We have
a forward-looking camera,

And we have a rear-looking
camera at the back.

And the pilot is able to choose
which view we get.

And I'm looking on a monitor.

And so we'll flick
to the downward-looking camera,

And as we look at the iceberg,
we'll be able to see

When we cross the threshold
of the iceberg.

And at that point, we know that
we're over the iceberg.

And if we do fly too far
on the other side

On some of the smaller bergs,

Then we're able
to draw ourselves back.

Narrator:
They're battling wind, waves,

And approaching storm systems,

With years of research
and preparation on the line.

Briggs:
And once we're positioned

In a suitable location
over the iceberg,

We can release stage one
of the deployment system.

And then that swings
on the end of its line,

And then we can lower it,
pull pin two,

Leaving the tracker
on the iceberg,

And we return with the vehicle.

Narrator: And the first drop
is a bull's-eye,

With hundreds of bergs
within striking distance,

Rob briggs believes
they can conquer iceberg alley

One berg and one tracking device
at a time.

While rob and his team

Are tracking icebergs
on the open seas,

A team of aerodynamicists
and flight engineers

Are testing the latest
in ice-fighting technologies.

Meadus:
We take real-life problems,

We break them down
to model scale,

And we come up with solutions.

♪

♪

Narrator: Shortly after
the titanic hit an iceberg

On April 14, 1912,

The world
started thinking differently

About maritime navigation
and communication.

In order to make the open waters
a safer place for mariners,

International organizations
came together

To make sure
another catastrophe like that

Couldn't happen again.

One of the partners
in that fight

Is the national research center
of canada.

Meadus: Here at
the national research council,

The ice tank facility,

We have the largest facility
in north america,

90 meters long, 12 meters wide,
and 3 meters deep.

We take real-life problems,

We break them down
to model scale,

And we come up with solutions.

Narrator: Essentially,
chris meadus and team

Test stuff
to survive the icy offshore.

Today, it's a hull design
for a u.S. Coast guard vessel.

We will go in the arctic.

We will do full-scale trials

Where we collect ice thicknesses
and strengths of the ice

Where a particular boat
is operating.

Then coming back here
in the building,

We program our machinery,

And we can bring this tank down
to minus 20.

Narrator: They use model boats
built at a scale of 1:18.

After stick-handling
through some fine-tuning,

The team conducts tests
that will ensure

The vessel's hull
is strong enough

To withstand the ice
it will operate in.

♪

Meadus: So, the shape of your
hull going through ice --

We measure the thrust,
the torques.

If we can get the thrust
and the torques down

And maintain a constant speed,
then you're saving money.

The more power you need,
the more fuel you're gonna need.

So designing a hull
that goes through the ice

The most efficient way possible,
safely, is the object.

♪

Narrator: Located across
the street from the ice tank

Is another marine simulator

That provides aspiring mariners

A space to learn
how to pilot safely.

March: But right now,

We're at the
centre for marine simulation.

It's part of
the memorial university

Of newfoundland and labrador.

We take people, and we put them
in the environment

That they're actually
going to work.

Offshore here on the east coast,

It's not so much surrounded
by icebergs,

But you've been surrounded
by a possibility of icebergs.

It's foggy.

The radars
are picking up wind waves.

The radars are picking up snow.

You're often trying to determine
what's an actual bergy bit,

Or a berg,
or what could be a berg

To just backscatter on
the radars from wind and waves.

It's a challenging environment.

Narrator:
While inside the simulator,

Aspiring pilots
will take a test run

Through
a basic ice-navigational course.

March: The students
will come into this simulation

With the idea that
they're in ice-infested waters,

And they have to navigate
around them.

The idea is, is that you try
your best not to hit ice.

So in this case here,
we're on a medium-sized tanker,

And we're gonna try to navigate
around all of the icebergy bits

And associated things.

♪

All these spots that we see on
the radar is actually icebergs.

So right now we're gonna
start to move forward.

We're going about 3 1/2 knots.

♪

So I'm gonna continue
to move along

And try to make sure I don't hit
this small piece of ice

Up here on the port side.

Obviously, I don't want to hit
the really big pieces of ice.

The bergs are usually
categorized in different sizes

Of small, medium, large.

And of course, the smallest
of all is the growlers.

Narrator:
They're called "growlers"

Because they make noise
as they melt.

And in a world where radar
and ice spotters

Detect larger bergs,

Conquering these can be
the most valuable lesson of all,

As we learned from
what took down the titanic.

March:
They're actually the worst

Because they sit
so low in the water

And are
very small chunks of ice,

But are very hard chunks of ice,

And they're always
very difficult to detect.

And if you hit them, you can
cause damage to your vessel.

♪

Narrator: 9/10 of an iceberg
is underwater.

As water freezes,
the molecules expand,

Making ice less dense
than liquid h2o.

And when something is less dense
than water, it floats.

In this case, ice is 90% as
dense as its liquid counterpart,

Meaning 90% of the berg
lies underwater

And invisible to mariners.

Luckily, one robotics company

Is trying to get
to the bottom of it.

So, just last year we came out
with a new product

Called sea vision,
which is the first of the world

To use rgb --
red, green, and blue -- lasers

For profiling underwater
objects, including icebergs.

So that's a sensor.

So then we need
to put that sensor on a platform

To be able to go
and actually profile the object

And track the object.

Narrator:
And they've just designed an

Autonomous underwater vehicle,
or auv,

That can carry the sensor
to great depths,

Analyzing the shape and track
of the berg.

So, what we have
going on this year

Is that we have an auv
called "thunderfish,"

Which is
a fully unmanned system.

So that means the auv can track
the iceberg as it's moving

To be able to monitor
and measure and track

And understand the changes
in the underwater morphology,

Or the underwater shape,
of the iceberg

Because that shape
is impacting its drift.

It's impacting its speed.

It's impacting
its potential collapse time,

Its breakup time,
its shatter time.

So we see a big opportunity
to have these robots out doing

Pretty much what humans
can't do.

Narrator:
But on iceberg alley,

There are some jobs
that only humans can do...

21z -- wind's 180, 12 knots,

Plus 6 statute miles
of visibility.

Narrator: ...Because even
all this technology isn't enough

To keep some bergs from
slipping through the cracks...

Threatening offshore
installations.

Wheaton: So far this year,
offshore operations

Had to divert 30 icebergs
away from operations

To prevent impact
on the platforms.

Narrator: When that happens,
offshore teams use

High-powered h2o to blast
the bergs out of harm's way.

They have huge water cannons
on the supply vessels

That they can use
to spray the icebergs

And deflect the icebergs.

It's actually very effective
at both deflecting the icebergs

And melting them
at the same time.

There's also something
called "prop wash,"

Where the supply vessels

Will actually turn their props
towards the iceberg

And push the icebergs
out of the way.

Narrator:
And to move them even further,

Sometimes offshore teams need
to tackle bergs with a lasso...

But those tend to slip off.

♪

So ice specialist freeman ralph
developed an iceberg net.

♪

I like the analogy --
a baseball.

If you're an outfielder
and you have just a sling,

It's gonna be extremely hard
to catch the fly ball.

But if you have
a good catcher's mitt,

Now you've got a tool
that's gonna allow you

To be quite effective
in fulfilling your purpose.

And that was the purpose
of the net.

Narrator: It's a low-tech
offense in the ultimate battle

Of humanity versus nature.

The best ice offense
is a disciplined defense.

That's why it's so important

For the ice patrol
to tackle the front lines.

And in the future,

They'll have a new partner
in the fight against the bergs.

♪

♪

Narrator: High above the open
waters of the north atlantic,

Ice spotter ryan hogan

Has maintained a frozen vigil
for five long hours...

As the
international ice patrol's c-130

Crosses the 43rd parallel.

It's their second mission
of the day.

And this one's
in familiar territory.

We'll get ready for the patrol
on the way down.

And then, when we commence
search on our patrol,

We're roughly 60 nautical miles
north of where the titanic sank.

Narrator: The further south
icebergs travel,

The more difficult
they are to track

And the more dangerous
and unpredictable they become.

♪

Now, on the assigned grid,
they begin.

The crew up front confirms
there's nothing on radar,

But ryan hogan
continues to look.

The farthest south an iceberg
has ever been spotted

Was in 1926 between bermuda
and north carolina.

There's even evidence that,
at the end of the ice age,

Icebergs scraped
the ocean bottom

Along the coast of florida.

We go out,
and we find icebergs

That are not on the prognosis,

Or what we call adds
to the model.

That is a big deal
because we want to ensure

That we have
the most accurate information.

Narrator: The team
is preparing to turn back

When, off in the distance,

Hogan spots one that slipped
through the cracks,

A small iceberg
that wasn't on any chart,

Hidden in the swell and waves.

They get enough information
to work out

Where the berg
might go from here,

And then they head home.

This is a new iceberg limit,

A new outer edge
for iceberg alley.

♪

As ships push the boundaries

And the changing climate creates
more and bigger icebergs,

The international ice patrol

Will have to expand
their search range.

♪

Meanwhile,
back on the ground,

Rob briggs has returned

From tagging icebergs
in the north atlantic.

So far, it's been a success.

So, in terms
of the preliminary analysis,

Of the beacons that we put out,

There was two that were
particularly exciting to us.

The first one was put
on a small iceberg

That we most deployed
in the middle of a windstorm.

And then, the next day,
the windstorm died,

And the iceberg's track proved
to pick up the currents again.

So we got a very nice
spaghetti plot

Of the track of the iceberg.

And the second track
that we got that was nice --

The iceberg actually broke up,
deposited the tracker

So we can pinpoint the moment
that the iceberg broke,

Which, again, is a very
rare event to have that track

And be able to sort of see
the --

It's not the birth
of the iceberg,

But pick it up
at a certain point in its life,

Watch it die,
and then record the death of it.

Narrator: Rob briggs will
continue his mission

In the weeks to come
with more tagging, more drones,

And more excursions
away from home,

Riding the waves and swells
on iceberg alley

Because
using smaller machines

To keep people
out of harm's way

Is the future
of iceberg reconnaissance.

The less we have to put
a flight crew out there

In potentially
hazardous conditions,

The less
we have to put ships out there

In potentially
hazardous conditions --

And if we can reliably get
that iceberg data,

Those locations,
then we can provide

An even more accurate warning
product to vessels at sea.

Narrator:
And iceberg alley

Recently got some help
from above

With the deployment
of three new satellites,

A project called "radarsat
constellation mission,"

Which began orbiting the earth
in 2019.

Power: The nice thing about
radarsat constellation mission

Is it's not one satellite --
it's three.

We have blanket coverage
of canada's coastlines

From coast to coast to coast
every single day.

We're on the cutting edge
with this technology.

As the sea ice melts,

We're gonna be seeing more
and more icebergs coming down.

We're gonna be seeing more
vessels going up into the arctic

Into areas that have been
uncharted by humankind.

And as we start looking

At extracting resources
in the arctic,

How do we understand
what happens

And the impacts
on our environment?

Narrator: As oil exploration
moves to deeper waters

And more shipping lanes open
in northern waters,

Iceberg fighting forces
will work together

To improve ice monitoring

On the world's largest
frozen battleground.

♪

Ralph: We're always
looking to progress.

There's always some room
to enhance the operations.

We can enhance the detection.

We can look at
integrated solution.

♪

Wheaton: Our challenges
are not going away.

In fact, I think our challenges
are going to get much greater.

Narrator:
The future on iceberg alley

Involves more satellites

Providing the ice patrol
and research organizations

Complete radar coverage.

Dodge:
When we can get a daily view

Of what icebergs are in the area
and what's approaching.

That improves safety because
we can understand then,

On a daily basis, what the
iceberg populations are like.

♪

Narrator: The temptation for
ships to take arctic shortcuts

Is getting greater.

Ships are also spending
more time

In the iceberg-infested waters
around iceberg alley

In search of natural resources
like minerals, oil, and gas.

The modern arctic
is an iceberg factory,

And it's speeding up production,

Creating bigger icebergs

And many smaller,
more dangerous ones.

Koch: Flying in the aircraft
with our ice observers,

Looking out the windows,
using the binoculars,

Our radar ice observer
working with

Our mission system operators

Gives us the best opportunity
at this point

And the highest confidence
for detection.

Narrator:
The international ice patrol

Has been at war
with an endless army of ice

For more than 100 years.

They use the coolest machines
in the world,

And it won't be long
until radar reinforcements

Take the fight to space,

Where new technology
will keep continuous track

Of every iceberg

In the moving maze of ice
we call "iceberg alley."

♪